Monthly Archives: May 2015

The Brooks family has been on a toxic adventure that few would want to endure after a prior home that had hidden mold affected all three of them. Wes, 18, has a hypersensitivity to mold that led to significant health problems. His mom, Donna, said, “It was very serious, he’s our miracle.” Together, they look forward to moving into their new northwest Peoria home that has been built to minimize exposure to harsh fumes and toxic elements given off by common construction materials. Dave Brooks, said they just hope their ordeal can help other families when they are faced with a similar situation.

Brooks, who serves as the general manager of the WCIC-FM radio station in Peoria, ticked off some of the special measures taken with the family’s new home.

“I personally inspected all the lumber used on the project to make sure it was free of mold. We kept all the stacked lumber on site covered while using low-moisture concrete with no fly ash,” he said. “We’re wrapping the whole house with a one-inch layer of foam to reduce condensation potential inside the wall assembly. The whole system is aggressively designed to keep water out of the basement,” said Brooks. Read more

The EPA is requiring an Idaho ski and snowboard park owner to clean up debris contaminated with asbestos after the company improperly demolished buildings on its property.

Gateway Parks LLC in January 2014 purchased property next to its existing park near Eagle, Idaho, to expand operations.

The company in May 2014 had an asbestos inspection completed on eight buildings on the new site in preparation of demolition of said buildings. Asbestos was found and the consultant submitted a bid for abatement, which Gateway Parks rejected.

Gateway Parks instead in mid-2014 demolished some of the buildings without safely removing the asbestos or notifying the EPA. Read more

When tests showed Helen Jackson’s 2-year-old daughter had dangerous levels of toxic lead in her blood, the worried mom instantly suspected her public housing apartment.

Tests by city health officials say she might be right — though New York City Housing Authority officials insist she’s not. An attorney assisting the Jackson family knows which agency she believes.

“It’s clear that NYCHA is trying not to be blamed because they’re at fault, and the proof of that is the lead in that child’s body,” said lawyer Bonita Zelman. “Since she was born, she has only lived in that apartment.”

While NYCHA claimed paint in Jackson’s Brooklyn home tested negative for lead, a March 25 visit by city health inspectors found different. Read more

A team of researchers at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., are the North Country’s answer to the “Ghost Hunters.”

They have a hunch that the reason some people see ghosts is not necessarily because a place is haunted. It may be because a haunted house has a lot of mold, and breathing it alters people’s states of mind.

Shane Rogers, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Clarkson, is into paranormal activity and ghosts in general. As a scientist, he studies some icky things, like manure and mold. He put his interest together and developed a hypothesis. Maybe people who see ghosts are actually just breathing in toxic mold? “There are reports of people who have been exposed to mold who have reported things like anxiety and depression.”

Rogers also knows many alleged haunted houses are old and dilapidated and more likely to be infested with mold. He said, “If you’re in a place where you’re exposed to mold, and you’re feeling a little anxious, and you see something strange or you feel something strange, if you’re in an old house that’s a little scarier, you might be more likely to ascribe it to a haunting, whereas in a newer house, perhaps not.” Read more

Sheet metal workers rarely handle asbestos directly, but they remain seven times more likely to die from mesothelioma – the rare cancer caused by it – than the general population, a recent study shows.

“The most important thing to take from this study is that you didn’t have to work with asbestos directly to be in danger,” Dr. Laura Welch, medical director at the Center for Construction Research and Training in Silver Springs, Maryland, told Asbestos.com. “All you had to do is be around it.” Read more

Hospitalized children, and their parents, say it’s because of what they’re breathing at school.

Halle Wassenberg, 7, spent months seeing different doctors.

“It made me feel yucky,” she told WCCO. “It didn’t feel good at all.”

She’s one of three students in the same classroom to leave Jordan Elementary School this year. Two teachers have also left. They all blame mold for making them sick. The school maintains the building is safe.

But a WCCO Investigation found mold concerns months ago were kept from parents. Read more

After spending more than $113,000 in taxpayer money to investigate the source of lead contamination in portions of San Marcos and Hays County water, neither government has found the origin of the problem.

Water to the Hays County Government Center was shut off to the public after tests revealed lead. The discovery prompted city-wide testing, which showed unacceptably high levels of lead at several other sites.

“We’ve tried everything,” said Clint Garza, county development services director. “Since last summer, we’ve tested every piece of pipe that we can pull from the building.”

That includes samples from all four manufacturers the county purchased pipe from to build the government center, which was completed in 2011. Garza said the samples were subjected to rigorous tests in highly corrosive environments, designed to break them down and make them release any lead contained in the pipe lining. The tests were repeatedly unsuccessful.

New York’s special court system for hearing asbestos cases will be on trial Thursday as defense lawyers make their case for reforms in the wake of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s indictment on allegations he accepted millions of dollars in kickbacks from one of the most prominent asbestos plaintiff firms in the state.

Weitz & Luxenberg and Silver have both denied wrongdoing. Defense lawyers have long complained that Weitz & Luxenberg had special privileges at NYCAL under Heitler, however. As the firm with the largest number of asbestos cases on the docket, defense lawyers say, Weitz & Luxenberg was able to cherry-pick which cases went to trial and got first shot at juries in a court system overloaded with more than 10,000 asbestos lawsuits. Read more

Personal coffeemakers provide a convenient coffee brewing solution for students, but they have an issue everyone should be wary of.

Mold within personal coffee makers like Keurigs should not come as a surprise.

“Any time there is constant moisture, there is the potential for mold and mildew to generate,” said Terri Newcom, Purdue Extension director for Tipton County.

Keurigs are a simple brewing system, requiring little of the user. Users only add water to the water tank and place the blend cup of choice into the machine. Keurigs are a cost efficient and easy way to brew at home for many. What many Keurig users have not thought of are the possible drawbacks to this machine.

“Since mildew and mold can grow on hard plastic surfaces, Keurigs and other types of coffee makers are susceptible,” said Newcom. “Most likely, the first evidence of mold or mildew will be a bitter taste to the coffee.”

A bitter taste to the coffee is not the only side effect that comes with mold exposure. Because all molds, mildews and bacteria pose health hazards, allergies tend to be a negative result as well. Other health hazards can include coughing, congestion, and respiratory infections. Read more